Moringa oleifera Lam extract attenuates gastric ulcerations in high salt loaded rats

Moringa oleifera Lam is a plant used extensively both in traditional and orthodox medicine to treat myriad ailments, including gastrointestinal disorders. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of leaf extract of M. oleifera some gastrointestinal function parameters in high salt loaded rats. Acute toxicity study was done using 70 male white mice (18-20 g) were used for the study. They were randomly selected and assigned to 7 cages of 10 animals per cage. Percentage mortalities were converted to probits and plotted against the log10 of the dose of the extract from which the LD50 value was calculated. Fresh leaf extract of M. oleifera was Soxhlet extracted. 24 albino Wistar rats were randomly assigned into 4 main groups of 6 rats each. Fed on normal rat chow, high salt (8% NaCl) diet + 1% NaCl drinking water and/or M. oleifera extract (600 mg/kg bw). The feeding regimens lasted for 42 days. Results obtained revealed that the extract had an LD50 value of 1,872.22 mg/kg from which a test dose of 600 mg/kg was derived for the feeding regimen. The salt fed rats had significantly (p<005) raised basal gastric acid output (9.03 ± 0.17 mmol/L/hr) compared with control (7.27 ± 0.17 mmol/L/hr), but had blunted response to administered histamine and cimetidine, while treatment with the extract enhanced the sensitivity of histamine in high salt loaded rats. Gastric mucus concentration was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the salt untreated group (0.25 ± 0.004 g) compared with other groups. The salt fed untreated group also had significantly (p<0.05) raised gastric ulcers (10.83 ± 0.70) compared with other groups, these were reversed following Moringa treatment. In conclusion, Moringa oleifera extract reverses gastric ulcers and blunted histaminergic receptors in high salt fed rats. The mechanism by which high salt increases gastric secretion is independent of the histaminergic mechanism

Alteration in biochemical indices following administration of seafood (Thais coronata) extract

Seafood consumption has been a way of life to most people especially those that leave in riverine areas, because seafoods are known to contain many nutrients that are essential for healthy living. Consequently, this research therefore seeks to investigate the effect of these nutritive components of Thais coronata on biochemical indices of albino Wistar rats. Fourty five male albino Wister rats weighing between 180-220 g were assigned into 3 groups of fifteen rats each in metabolic cages and were given rat feed and drinking water ad libitum. Two test doses (low dose 7.0 mg protein/ml and&nbsp; high dose 52 mg protein/ml) were selected&nbsp; and&nbsp; administered&nbsp; to&nbsp; two&nbsp; groups&nbsp; of&nbsp; rats&nbsp; orally&nbsp; and&nbsp; daily&nbsp; for&nbsp; six&nbsp; weeks,&nbsp; while&nbsp; a third group of rats served as the control, n = 15. At the expiration of the feeding period, blood samples were obtained from all the rats via cardiac puncture for the analysis of the various biochemical indices. Both the low and high doses of the extract produced significant increases in HDLc (P&lt;0.001) compared with control. k (P&lt;0.001), HCO3- (P&lt;0.01) and Ca2+ (P&lt;0.001) were also significantly increased in the&nbsp; extract treated groups. The extract groups had significant reductions in ALT (P&lt;0.001), ALP (P&lt;0.001), Na+ (P&lt;0.001) and Cl- (P&lt;0.001) compared with control. Also Tc (P&lt;0.001), TG (P&lt;0.001), LDL (P&lt;0.001) and VLDLc (P&lt;0.001) were significantly decreased in the extract treated group. In conclusion seafood consumption is of immense benefit to health because it serves to regulate the lipid profile, electrolytes and enzyme concentrations in blood. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.58078

Citrus Sinensis separately increases Serum Plasma Proteins while its combination treatment with Carbimazole reduces-the thyroid hormones connection

Plasma proteins play a vital role in the bioavailability and by implication, the activity of thyroid hormones. This study therefore became expedient in order to investigate the effect of Citrus sinensis on serum plasma proteins in comparison with standard thyro-active drugs. Albino wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups of 7 rats each. Group I served as control, group II received 1500mg/kg of fresh orange juice (FOJ), group III received 0.1ug/g of Levothyroxine (LVT), group IV received 0.01mg/kg of Carbimazole (CARB) and group V received FOJ (1500mg/kg)+ CARB (0.01mg/g) once daily per oral for 28 days. The animals were sacrificed after a night fast and blood samples obtained by cardiac puncture and processed by standard procedure to obtain the serum which was used for plasma protein analysis. The results showed that FOJ and LVT significantly (p<0.05) increased total protein, albumin and globulin levels while FOJ+CARB significantly (p<0.05) decreased them. It appears that the separate effect of Citrus sinensis and LVT on plasma protein is unrelated to their effect on thyroid hormone levels. The combination treatment appears to synergistically potentiate their antithyroid effect irrespective of the singular effect of Citrus sinensis on plasma proteins. Thus, there may be need for caution on the excessive consumption of Citrus sinensis during treatment with Carbimazole Keywords Citrus Sinensis, Carbimazole, Levothyroxine, Thyro-Active Drugs, Plasma Protein

Global variations in diabetes mellitus based on fasting glucose and haemogloblin A1c

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but may identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and detected as having diabetes in survey screening had elevated FPG, HbA1c, or both. We developed prediction equations for estimating the probability that a person without previously diagnosed diabetes, and at a specific level of FPG, had elevated HbA1c, and vice versa. The age-standardised proportion of diabetes that was previously undiagnosed, and detected in survey screening, ranged from 30% in the high-income western region to 66% in south Asia. Among those with screen-detected diabetes with either test, the agestandardised proportion who had elevated levels of both FPG and HbA1c was 29-39% across regions; the remainder had discordant elevation of FPG or HbA1c. In most low- and middle-income regions, isolated elevated HbA1c more common than isolated elevated FPG. In these regions, the use of FPG alone may delay diabetes diagnosis and underestimate diabetes prevalence. Our prediction equations help allocate finite resources for measuring HbA1c to reduce the global gap in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance.peer-reviewe

An Empirical Evaluation of the Role of Information and Communication Technology in Advancement of Teaching and Learning

This work reports an investigation into the role of Information and Communication Technology in promoting efficiency in teaching, using Federal University Lafia as a case study. The University is amongst the 9 newly created federal universities in Nigeria. Research questions and hypothesis were developed and used as a guide in the study. Data was collected via a questionnaire. The collated data were analysed using mean and standard deviation, while T-test was used in testing the hypothesis proposed for the study. The results from the sample survey of fifty (50) lecturers show that Information and Communication Technology plays a vital role in promoting efficiency in the teaching process. The T-test analysis show no significant difference between the opinions of Male and Female lecturers for most items that were considered in the course of the stud

Energy neutral protocol based on hierarchical routing techniques for energy harvesting wireless sensor network

Recently, researchers in the field of wireless sensor networks have resorted to energy harvesting techniques that allows energy to be harvested from the ambient environment to power sensor nodes. Using such Energy harvesting techniques together with proper routing protocols, an Energy Neutral state can be achieved so that sensor nodes can run perpetually. In this paper, we propose an Energy Neutral LEACH routing protocol which is an extension to the traditional LEACH protocol. The goal of the proposed protocol is to use Gateway node in each cluster so as to reduce the data transmission ranges of cluster head nodes. Simulation results show that the proposed routing protocol achieves a higher throughput and ensure the energy neutral status of the entire network

Quercetin and Omega-3 fatty acid averts the deleterious effects of Cadmium on NO, NOS, anti-oxidants and MDA levels in rats

Cadmium is a ubiquitous heavy metal and a toxic pollutant in the biosphere which has been implicated as one of the factors responsible for infertility. Infertility in animals is one of the most widespread problems with 48.5 million of the world population being infertile. This study aimed to investigate the effects of omega-3 and/or quercetin on cadmium- induced alterations in nitric oxide (NO), nitric oxide synthase (NOS), and anti-oxidants levels. 42 Wistar rats were assigned into 7 groups of 6 rats each and fed for 8 weeks with normal rat feed and drinking water. The treatment groups took either of cadmium chloride, omega-3 fatty acid and/or quercetin. The sham control groups 1 and 2 took olive oil (0/1mL/kg body wt. o.p) and DMSO (1mL/kg body wt. o.p) respectively. Serum was collected for measurement of the biochemical assay. Results obtained showed no significant differences were observed in all the parameters assayed between the sham control groups and the normal control. The LD50 for cadmium was 3.90mg/kg bw. Concentrations of NO, NOS reduced significantly in Cd groups compared with control, omega-3 and/or quercetin groups. SOD, CAT, GPx reduced significantly (p&lt;0.05) while MDA increased significantly in Cd groups compared with control, omega-3 and/or quercetin groups. In conclusion, administration of quercetin or omega-3 ameliorates the adverse effects of Cd on NO, NOS, antioxidants (SOD, CAT, GPx), and MDA levels. A combination of both quercetin and omega-3 produced a better ameliorating effect than when given singly. Keywords: Cadmium, Omega-3, quercetin, NO, NOS, anti-oxidants, MDA, rats

Phytochemistry And Some Haematological Changes Following Oral Administration Of Ethanolic Root Extract Of Gonglonema latifolium In Rats

Gonglonema latifolium is a climbing perennial plant that belongs to the family of asclepidaceae. The medicinal uses of the leaves and stem bark extract of Gonglonema latifolium has been reported in many scientific literatures to include anti-hyperglycaemic, anti-ulcerative etc. There is paucity in scientific reports on the medicinal properties of the root extract. This study was therefore designed to elucidate the phytochemical constituents and effect of ethanolic root extract of Gonglonema latifolium on some hematological parameters. Eighteen (18) albino Wistar rats were randomly assigned into 3 groups of 6 rats each. Group 1 (control) was fed on normal rat chow + drinking water, the test groups (group 2 and 3) in addition received extract treatment (p.o) at a dose of 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg respectively. The feeding regimens lasted for 14 days. Results show that the extract contains polyphenols, glycosides, reducing sugars and alkaloids. The mean RBC count for control was 4.44 ± 0.15 x 106 cells/mm3, this did not differ significantly from the test groups. The total WBC counts were 3.79 ± 0.15 x 103 cells/mm3 , 3.37 ± 0.19 x 103 cells/mm3 and 5.54 ± 0.39 x 103 cells/mm3 for groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively. WBC was significantly (P<0.01) higher in the high dose (group 3) compared with control. Mean PCV (%) were 33.60 ± 0.81, 37.20 ± 0.80 and 34.80 ± 1.35 for groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The PCV was significantly (P<0.05) higher in low dose extract recipients (group 2) than in control. Hb content, MCV and MCH did not differ significantly among the groups, but MCHC was significantly lower in the test groups compared with control group. Neutrophils were significantly (P<0.001) reduced in the test groups, while the eosinophils and monocytes count were significantly increased in the test groups than in controls. In conclusion, the extract has little or no effect on RBC count, PCV, MCV and MCH. But low doses of the extract significantly increased the Hb count while high doses significantly increased WBC count, probably due to increase in eosinophil and monocyte counts. MCHC was dose-dependently reduced. The extract was also observed to contain polyphenols, alkaloids, glycosides and reducing sugars

THE EFFECTS OF A NIGERIAN SPECIE OF VISCUM ALBUM (MISTLETOE) LEAF EXTRACT ON THE BLOOD PRESSURE OF NORMOTENSIVE AND DOCA-INDUCED HYPERTENSIVE RATS.

Fresh leaves from V. album plant was collected and extracted using standard methods. Acute toxicity studies showed that the crude extract had an LD50 value of 417.5 mg/kg. mice, i.p. Based on this value, test doses (5-160mg/kg) below the LD50 value were selected and used to determine the effects of each dose of extract on the arterial blood pressure (BP) and heart rate of normotensive and hypertensive rats. Some pharmacological agents like propranolol, noradrenaline, acetylcholine and atropine sulphate were also used to assess the mechanism of action of the extract on blood pressure. From the results, the extract produced a dose-dependent depression of blood pressure and heart rate in both normo- and hypertensive rats. At doses of 5mg/kg and 160mg/kg, the extracts produced about 8.99 ± 3.2% and 54 ± 7.4% depression of BP respectively, in normotensive rats while the corresponding values for the hypertensives were 4.8 ± 2.3% and 43.9 ± 5.5% respectively. The duration of action of the extract was also found to be dose-dependent. Noradrenaline (1.5 μg/kg) blocked the action of the extract. Both propranolol (1.0μg/kg) and atropine (1.5μg/kg) failed to block or abolish the action of the extract on rat BP. We suggest a non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic mechanism for the action of the extract on blood pressure